The Chaos Events
by RonnyBravo the Breadghost
Summary: My name is Newton the Echidna and this is my story of the Chaos Events.  Revision is complete!
1. New Friends

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sonic the Hedgehog characters I use in this story.

Chapter 1: New Friends

This is a story long inscribed in my memory; one that I will never, ever forget. In the time that Pachacamac was the chief of the echidna clan, the time that the Echidna and Nocturnus were just getting started on their hatred for each other, is where my story begins. I was a member of a tribe caught in between their war. My name is Newton of the Nutrolis tribe and this is my perspective of the Chaos Events.

* * *

><p>I met my first friend, Tikal, one day, while out walking in the meadow between Echidnaopolis and the Nutrolis village. She was playing with what seemed to be little light blue creatures with yellow balls on their heads.<p>

"Excuse me!" I called, "What are you doing?"

She turned to me and called back, "I'm playing with my friends! Would you care to join?" Being the friendly echidna that I was, I agreed. We played for a few hours until we had to go home.

"That was really fun!" I said joyfully.

"Yeah!" said Tikal, "I have to get them back to the shrine though. Chaos gets really antsy if we're late."

"Chaos?" I asked, "Is that another one of your friends?"

"Yes," she replied, "He's very nice. You should come and meet him sometime. By the way, I'm Tikal."

"My name's Newton!" I said cheerfully.

"I hope we meet again soon," said Tikal as she turned towards Echidnaopolis.

"Yeah," I said turning towards my village, "Me too."

Just a few days later, I was out near the Nocturnus border when I met another new friend; actually two. They were two young boys by the names of Avon and Victor also brothers. "Hey look Victor!" Avon said to his brother, "It's another echidna!"

"Avon, you know we aren't supposed to talk to strangers," said Victor.

"Hello there!" I said walking up… and hitting a force field.

"Ouch," I said staggering backwards, "What's with this?"

"We don't take too kindly to outsiders," said Victor.

"Now you're talking to strangers," Avon teased.

"Well if I can't come in we can at least talk," I said.

"Oh no," said Victor, "We're going straight home."

"Awww… come on Victor," said Avon, "Try to have a little fun for once in your life."

Victor hesitated and then said, "Come on, we're going home."

"Wait!" I called after them as they began to leave, "My name's Newton in case you wanted to know."

"Well we didn't," said Victor without turning around. Avon turned with sad eyes and mouthed, 'I hope we can meet again soon.'

* * *

><p>My final friend was actually a friend of Tikal's that she brought the next time we met.<p>

"Newton, this is Natalie," she said as she walked up with her friend. She was a young echidna about both mine and Tikal's age (about ten at the time).

"Hello," said Natalie. I noticed that Tikal hadn't brought the chao and assumed that Tikal didn't trust Natalie to meet them. Why that was I didn't know. We walked around a bit in the meadow playing with our imaginations like most kids do until we reached an icy cave.

"What do you think is inside?" I asked excitedly.

"Maybe treasure!" said Natalie.

"Let's be careful," said Tikal, "I have a bad feeling about this place." We entered the cave which looked pretty average for a cave. I didn't understand what Tikal meant about it being a bad place… until I thought I heard voices.

"Turn back," they whispered, "Turn back." Apparently, Tikal and Natalie heard them too because they were shivering in fear as well.

"What are those voices?" Natalie asked in fear.

"I… think we should leave," I said nervously. We turned to go back the way we came but there was a dead end right where we had just walked through.

"Wh-what's going on?" I asked in fear, "The path was there a few seconds ago!"

"I knew this place didn't feel right!" Tikal cried. We began running in panic through the halls of the cave, running into dead ends and crazy turns at random. Miraculously, we found the exit.

"I'm never going in there again," I said with my chest heaving.

"Me neither," said the girls in unison.

* * *

><p>Another week passed from that time. On some days I would play with Tikal and Natalie, avoiding the cave of course, and on some I would play with Avon and Victor, who had finally given into his brother's pleas. At the end of the week, I started to realize how much fun it would be if we all played together, so I came up with a plan to bring us together.<p>

I first went out to the meadow where I played with Tikal and Natalie. "Hey guys!" I called running up to them.

"Hi Newton!" said Tikal.

"There are a few people I want you to meet," I said.

"Really?" asked Natalie, "Who?"

"They're over on the Nocturnus side," said Newton. Natalie and Tikal backed up a little. "Um… we're not allowed to go over there," said Natalie, "Especially Tikal."

"Yeah," said Tikal.

"Come on," I said, "What's the harm? We won't get caught. I promise." The girls looked at each other nervously and then Tikal said, "Alright."

Another hour later, Tikal, Natalie and I arrived at the spot I usually met Avon and Victor.

"They should be here by now," I said. Suddenly, I saw Avon coming over the horizon with Victor following behind as usual.

"Hi Newton!" called Avon, "Who'd you bring?" He stopped in his tracks when he saw the girls and I didn't know which one he was looking at or if he was looking at both, but I didn't have time to react before Victor caught up.

"So, what are we doing today?" asked Victor, "And who are these two?"

"They're my friends from the Echidna tribe," I said, "Tikal and Natalie." Victor backed up a bit but Avon got closer and I realized that he was looking at _Natalie_ in particular. They were both in their traditional Nocturnus garb (minus the helmets) which kind of freaked both of the girls out. Natalie, however, did seem slightly drawn to Avon.

"Oh no," said Victor, "Not the Echidna."

"I tried to tell you this wasn't a good idea Newton," said Tikal nervously.

"I don't see why this won't work out," I said, "What's wrong with a couple of ten year olds and a twelve year old hanging out together?"

"It's a little… tribal spat," said Tikal.

"Between the Nocturnus and the Echidna?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Victor.

"Well then we'll disregard it and have fun anyway!" I exclaimed. Tikal's fears seemed to wash away but Victor still seemed hesitant.

"Come on Victor," said Avon, "It'll be fun!" Victor was silent for a few moments but then he said, "Fine, but I better not get in trouble."

We went on like that for a long time, a few years to be exact, before I realized what I bad idea it was. The Echidna and Nocturnus began to talk of war soon after these events and before I knew it, they were holding battles around my village. Nonetheless, my friends and I still met almost every day to play together. That is, until they discovered the cave…


	2. The Cyrokinetic

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Sonic the Hedgehog characters I use in this story.

Chapter 2: The Cyrokinetic

Four years after I introduced my Echidna friends to my Nocturnus friends, Avon and Victor discovered the cave.

"Hey guys!" Avon called, "Come look at this!" Victor quickly rushed over the hillside and gasped at his brother's discovery. When I saw it, I just about died.

"Oh no…" I said in fear.

"Hey Newton!" said Avon, "What's wrong?"

"Bad memories," I said holding my head. Tikal and Natalie wouldn't even come over the hill after they saw my reaction.

"I say we go in!" said Victor, "This place looks awesome!"

"I'm with you bro!" said Avon.

"No!" I cried, "You don't know how scary that place is!"

"It looks like a normal cave to me," said Victor.

"He's not kidding," said Tikal as she and Natalie came over the crest of the hill, "The last time we went in there…" She shuddered at the memory.

"Come on," said Victor, "Don't be such a baby. Come on Avon!"

"No!" Natalie cried, "Avon don't go!"

I noted what she had said in my head. She had seemed quite attached to Avon since they met and I had been keeping tabs about what they said about each other.

"Please Natalie," said Avon, "If you don't want to go in that's fine, but don't worry about me. I'm fine." He winked and I noticed Natalie blush slightly.

"Come on Avon!" yelled Victor from the mouth of the cave.

"I'm coming!" Avon called. As they disappeared into the cave, Natalie wailed, "Avon!" Before I could stop myself, I was following her into the cave, Tikal right behind me. We were breaking the oath we had made four years before.

The cave was even scarier than how I remembered it. This time the walls seemed to be closing in on me.

"Avon!" I called, "Natalie! Victor!" I had lost all three of them. A dead end appeared in front of me and I stopped abruptly. Tikal, thank goodness, bumped into me from behind signifying that she was still with me.

"Oh no…" said Tikal, "We're closed in!" I looked around and realized that she was right. We were now in a small room with walls all around us.

"Now what do we do?" I asked nervously. Tikal held onto me tightly in the darkness. Just as Avon and Natalie had become quite attached, we had as well. At this point I had realized that the Soultouch, the echidna special ability used to find our soul mates, may be taking effect. If it were, it would be a dream come true… if we ever got out of there. Fortunately, I heard Avon's voice from somewhere on the other side of one of the walls. One of the walls crumbled into a snowy powder and where it had been was Avon standing with pride holding a wooden rod in his hand.

"What is with this place?" he asked, helping us up.

"I know right?" I said, "It just keeps changing. Where did you get that rod?"

"I found it in here somewhere," said Avon, "And this place changes at my will in case you didn't notice." Both of us looked at him like he was crazy.

"This place changes on its own!" I cried.

"On occasion," said Avon, "But I just put my hand up to a wall and it will obey me or something. Anyways, we've got to find Natalie and Victor!" I had almost forgotten and quickly took Tikal's hand and followed Avon out of the area. Sure enough, whenever we ran into a dead end, Avon simply put his hand to the wall and said something under his breath and it crumbled into a flurry of snow.

"How do you do that?" I asked.

"I don't know," said Avon, "I just tried to punch a wall and it reduced to snow. And on top of that, I found the exit already; the walls manipulated to help me find it." Now I knew that Avon was something else. He could turn walls to snow! I made a mental note to check something out when we got out of there. Suddenly, we heard a scream.

"That was Natalie!" Avon cried, "Let's go!"

"How do you know?" I asked. Avon turned. "Just trust me," he said, "That was Natalie."

I was still hesitant but Tikal gently urged me along and soon I found myself following Avon towards the screams. Another dead end formulated but immediately vanished again just because Avon was standing there. The screams got louder. Soon, we had reached Natalie… or rather the walls that were holding her captive!

"Avon!" she screamed through a hole in the wall. The walls were closing in on her. Avon for the first time seemed panicked. Then he calmed himself down, raised the rod in his hand at the wall, and said, "Cease!" The jewel at the tip of the rod glowed and the wall separating them from Natalie crumbled into snow and Natalie was revealed. Avon ran up to her to check for injury. Natalie was still crying from her near death experience.

"Come on," said Avon, "It's over now."

He helped her up but her legs wouldn't hold. He put the rod in a sling on his back that I hadn't noticed before and his arm around her and helped her balance and then said, "Come on, let's get out of here and find Victor."

We searched the cave under Avon's lead but didn't find Victor anywhere. Eventually we left the cave and before we departed, Avon said, "Help Natalie get home safely. I have to find my brother." We were about to leave when Victor dashed out of the cave.

"You leave me to die in a cave while you're partying out here?" he asked angrily.

"Oh my gosh you're all right!" said Avon.

"All right?" said Victor fiercely, "I've been messed with by a cave! And you didn't even bother looking for me!"

"We searched for you for a whole hour!" I yelled, "If you had stayed in one place we would have found you!"

"How am I supposed to stay in one place in a cave that is constantly changing?" asked Victor, "I should've never been friends with you guys in the first place!"

"Victor, it was your idea to go in the cave!" I snapped. Tikal held me back when I tried to get in his face. Victor just looked back towards his homeland.

"I'm going back and you're coming with me Avon," he said, "I'm done with these fools."

"But Victor…" said Avon. "No buts," said Victor. He took his brother's arm and marched off towards the Nocturnus capital not noticing the sling with the rod in it on Avon's back. Tikal and I just stared and Natalie broke down on the ground crying.

"I'll take her home," said Tikal, "Please be careful Newton." She helped Natalie to her feet and put her arm around her friend and led her towards Echidnaopolis. I watched them go and then started walking towards my own hometown.

* * *

><p>That night when I went home, I went straight to the family library. I began searching for a book on the cave and soon I found one. It was titled, <span>The Maze of Ice<span>. I had seen this book after I had first gone into the cave. I found the page I was looking for and began to read.

"The Maze of Ice, also known as Cyron Cave, is a place where many people lose their lives due to being unable to find their way out. Few are lucky enough to escape with their lives." I shuddered at the thought of simply losing my life because of a cave I wandered into.

"A select few known as the Cyrokinetics are able to enter the cave without risk and, more specifically, control it…" That was the information I was looking for. Avon had been able to control the cave. I closed the book. I now knew that Avon was a cyrokinetic.


	3. Escape

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sonic the Hedgehog characters I use in this story.

Chapter 3: Escape

The tension between the Nocturnus and Echidna strengthened over the next year. I no longer met with my friends every day. Victor and Avon never showed up and neither did Tikal and Natalie. Still, I went to our meeting place every single day. That long year passed and then what I thought might have been unthinkable happened; the tension between the Nocturnus and Echidna broke and soon they were in a full blown war with the Nutrolis stuck in the middle. Recently, the Nocturnus had seemed to weaken in their battles but no one paid any attention in the Nutrolis capital. We were just worried about being blown off of the map.

On that first day of March, I went out to the meeting place for what seemed like the millionth time being careful to avoid the warzone and found someone I'd thought I'd never see again; Tikal.

"Tikal!" I called as I approached, "What are you doing here?" Tikal turned at the sound of my voice.

"Newton!" she cried, "Is that you?" I reached her and hugged her tightly. We hadn't seen each other in a whole year at least.

"Yes it's me," I said with a smile, "Where's Natalie?"

"Still in Echidnopolis," said Tikal, "She's been absolutely defiant about coming ever since that day."

"So why haven't you come?" I asked.

"I have been trying to keep my father from doing something terrible," she said in distress.

"What is that?" I asked curiously.

"He's been trying to get to the Master Emerald to use it to destroy the Nocturnus," said Tikal, "I knew that that would destroy our friends. He's just too greedy!"

"I agree," I said, "We need to keep him from getting that power."

"I'm already working at that," said Tikal. I thought about what I could do for a few moments and an idea came to mind.

"Do you think you could get Natalie out of the city?" I asked.

"What good will that do?" asked Tikal.

"I think I might be able to reunite her with Avon," I said, "That's probably all she's been thinking about ever since we last saw each other."

"You've got that right," said Tikal, "I'll try and hopefully she'll listen and you're right."

"I hope I am too," I said. I gave Tikal a gentle kiss on the forehead and we parted ways and I tried to think of what to do to get the two of them back together. I decided to leave it the hands of fate.

* * *

><p>As fate would have it, I got lucky. That night when Tikal had gone back to Echidnopolis (she described what had happened very carefully the next day) she had run into her father who she said had been angry at her leaving the city in the middle of a war. He said that it was too dangerous to be out wandering about when the enemy could strike at any moment. Tikal managed to evade his remarks and located Natalie as quickly as possible.<p>

"Natalie!" she had said. Natalie had looked up at her friend and given a weak smile.

"Hi Tikal," Natalie had said.

"Listen," Tikal had said, "Newton thinks he can get you and Avon back together but you have to flee the city first."

"That's impossible," Natalie had said, "I'll never see him again."

"Anything's possible," Tikal had said, "You just have to believe it is." Natalie had looked at her friend with sad eyes.

"I'll try," Natalie had said, "I hope you guys are both right."

"I hope so too," Tikal had said.

She explained this conversation to me very quickly and told me that Natalie would be out of the city by the time the moon rose. My luck took a bright turn when I went home from that meeting. I had seen a figure in the distance that looked remarkably like a Nocturnus warrior, smaller than the ones that were fighting the war. It had to be Avon. I just needed to get Natalie out of Echidnopolis and that was that.

That night, I went to the meeting place where Tikal had said Natalie would be but Natalie was not there. Could she have changed her mind? I doubted that. I knew Natalie and she was one who stuck to the plan like glue. I just hoped that she hadn't gotten lost.

Natalie ran across the enormous field that connected the two capitals of the tribes. A battle was going on nearby my hometown which meant that we were in jeopardy. Natalie was lost in the darkness until she saw a small figure in the distance. Something activated within her that told her that it was someone she definitely knew. She approached the figure and she couldn't believe what she had been seeing; it _was_ Avon and she fell into his arms crying tears of joy. It was not until a few hours later when I found them taking refuge in a cave, not the labyrinth mind you but a small quaint cave nearby the Nutrolis capital.

"You guys are alright!" I said as I entered. They looked up happily when they saw me come in. Avon still had the rod from a year before on his back. Avon had obviously been able to make a few changes to it because instead of a wooden rod it was now a metal rod with a black and purple color scheme, the colors of the Nocturnus. I assumed he had done it so he wouldn't arouse suspicion among his people. They both had wide grins.

"Are you kidding?" said Avon, "We're better than alright!" I grinned at their grins just because I couldn't help it. I'd never seen two happier people in my life especially in the situation we were in.

"Avon, how did you get out of the Nocturnus capital and what have you been doing for the last year?" I asked.

"It was simple really," said Avon, "On that day a year ago, Victor dragged me home and he enlisted both of us in the army. You wouldn't believe how tough that was. But I rose through the ranks quickly and became a Procurator, second in command to the general. Victor tried to sabotage me more than once but he failed every single time."

"What do you mean your brother sabotaged you?" I asked.

"He hated me after that day," said Avon, "He only enlisted me in the army with him because he wanted to see you guys dead. I didn't find that out until a week ago when I fled the capital."

"You didn't mention how you did that," I said.

"As I was at the top of the military, I had free access to all technology in the city," said Newton, "I blew the city's power grid and ran for it." I was stunned. Avon had knocked the Nocturnus capital, the most technological place on the planet, out of order. That explained the Nocturnus's visible weakening. The three of us were silent for a few moments.

"How long do you think we'll be safe here until they discover we're missing?" asked Natalie breaking the silence.

"Hopefully long enough," I said. The final part of my plan with Tikal had been that Tikal would do everything in her power to protect the Master Emerald. I could only hope that she would do so.


	4. Chaos Destruction

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sonic the Hedgehog characters I use in this story.

Chapter 4: Chaos Destruction

I soon learned that my hopes for Tikal were dashed. Just hours after I found Avon and Natalie in the small cave, I heard something terrifying. It was the scream of a beast; a beast that could destroy the world maybe. I dashed out of the cave and in the distance near Echidnopolis was the very clear site of a gigantic blue monster. It seemed to be made out of liquid and blinded with rage. Even in this liquid form, it looked absolutely terrifying.

"I don't think you guys want to see this," I said. Natalie and Avon were already behind me and they were embracing each other in terror. The monster seemed to melt across the land and headed in a direction that horrified me; it headed toward the Nutrolis capital. The echidnas that were fighting the battle were just staring wide eyed at the monster and it pummeled over them, killing every last one. It began to circle the city and soon lost interest. I breathed a sigh of relief until I saw that it was heading towards Echidnopolis again.

It came out of the ground and began firing light beams everywhere, destroying everything in sight. Everything those beams hit, they destroyed. Within five minutes, half of Echidnopolis was in ruins and to my dismay, the Nutrolis tribe's capital. Without giving it a second thought, I dashed towards my home with tears stinging my eyes. This was unbelievable. And what Avon and Natalie were about to do was even more.

After I left, Avon took Natalie's hand. "We need to get out of here," he said.

"I agree, but where would we go?" asked Natalie.

"I've got an idea but you have to not freak out," said Avon, "Because I can protect you." As it would happen, the two of them were heading to Cyron cave, the very cave that we had all entered as a group a year ago.

"Why here?" asked Natalie when they arrived. Chaos, as I believe it was called, had moved onto forests and mountains behind them. Everywhere it touched, there was destruction.

"I know it will be safe," said Avon, "This is a temple designed by the ancient people of this planet." He led her inside and they began traversing the maze yet again. The maze cooperated with Avon, not putting a single dead end in front of them. At one point, they were even walking straight forward. Eventually, they reached a small, icy room that seemed to be the end of the maze. Avon stopped. He let go of Natalie's hand and walked towards a small shrine in the back of the room and put the rod on it.

"I found this place a year ago when we entered the labyrinth," he said looking around, "We should be safe here."

"But what if that beast comes back and destroys this place?" asked Natalie.

"That's the second half of my plan," said Avon. He held his hand out and concentrated hard and a ball of shimmering light appeared in his palm.

"What is that?" asked Natalie.

"An icy light," said Avon, "A result of my cyrokinetic powers. This is how I earned favor in the Nocturnus army in the first place."

"What does that have to do with being safe?" asked Natalie, "Can you freeze that monster?"

"No," said Avon, "But I believe I can freeze us." Natalie looked shocked.

"Why do we want to be frozen?" she asked.

"There's a spell I learned from reading a book after I discovered I had these powers," said Avon, "It said that with that spell, you could cryogenically freeze yourself in eternal ice."

"Frozen together for eternity?" asked Natalie.

"It's your decision," said Avon solemnly. Natalie considered the options for a few moments. Avon knew her well enough to know what she would pick.

"If it means staying alive and being with you for eternity, I'll do it," said Natalie.

"I thought you'd say that," said Avon. He embraced her tightly and began to chant something in the old echidna language that everybody used a long time ago.

"_Seeron, Seeron, hert mu cree! Frese oos noy en eerlasing cyr. Do ina ler oos hos oar leves wen don, su_  
>(Cyron, Cyron here my cry! Freeze us now in eternal ice. Do not let us lose our lives when it is done, so)<p>

_frese oos noy ahn do ina coem."_  
>(freeze us now and do not condemn.)<p>

Immediately, ice began forming around their ankles and rose over their bodies gradually.

"Are you going to be alright?" asked Avon.

"I'll be fine," said Natalie, "As long as you're with me." They held each other tighter as the ice came up to their waists. Within a few minutes, their whole upper bodies were covered.

"Natalie…" said Avon.

"Avon…" said Natalie. They leaned their heads forward.

"I love you…" they both said. Their lips met and the ice covered their heads locking them within time. And I didn't know of these events until later and how I could have averted them if I had stayed.


	5. Heartbreak

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sonic the Hedgehog characters I use in this story.

Chapter 5: Heartbreak

After Chaos was released, Tikal laid on the ground helpless by her father's actions. Pachacamac and some of his best men lay dead around the shrine and Tikal laid on the ground nearby, hurt by her own people. The shrine was in flames, the Chao were hurt, and Chaos was destructive. And it was also coming back towards Echidnopolis right at that moment. While I was at my home, crying hard as everybody in the town had been killed, which meant that I was the last Nutrolis, Tikal was doing the most insane thing ever, or what I thought was the most insane thing; she sacrificed herself.

Tikal got up and tried to hide her eyes from the disaster, but that disaster was too great. She saw the chao lying on the ground and her father as well, lifeless.

"Why? Why did this have to happen?" she asked herself. She looked around one more time.

"This is terrible," she said, "I must stop this now." She ran up to the shrine where the Master Emerald sat.

"Please hear me now!" she cried, "The servers are the seven chaos, and chaos is power enriched by the heart. Now please use your power to stop him!" Chaos was just arriving at the shrine from his destruction spree and he saw what Tikal was doing. I watched from the distance I was at, and started running as hard as I could to get to Echidnaopolis from the Nutrolis capital, and I saw Chaos begin to vanish before my eyes. I began running even faster and I arrived at the shrine a few minutes later, my heart pounding inside of my chest and I saw Chaos disappear.

Tikal fell on the ground before the Master Emerald, breathing hard. I felt a sharp pain go through my head as if that were what Tikal was feeling. I ran up the shrine's steps up to Tikal's body. She was breathing heavily and I could tell that she had done something insane.

"Tikal, what have you done?" I asked.

"Chaos… is within the Master Emerald now," she managed to say, "Soon I will be too. But the world is safe…"

"No, you can't just leave me!" I said, "Why?"

"I had to… to save the world… otherwise… you might have been killed as well…" she said, "If you ever see our friends again… tell them what has happened… and never forget that I am not gone and I will always be in your heart…" With those final words, she vanished leaving only a ball of light that disappeared into the Master Emerald. I fell to the ground and wept.

* * *

><p>I didn't leave the shrine for another hour as I was crying hard but when I did, I made it my goal to find Avon and Natalie. I began to walk towards the cave that I had found them in when I saw that those of the Nocturnus capital were, in the distance, coming out to observe the destruction. The Nutrolis and Echidna were gone, just myself, the Nocturnus, and maybe Natalie and Avon too.<p>

I continued my trek towards the cave and remembered all of those times I had spent with my friends even Victor. I remembered that first day with all of them together and how much fun we had. Avon and Natalie had gotten along amazingly that day. And I had officially concluded that the Soultouch had indeed activated between Tikal and me and especially Avon and Natalie. My thoughts ended when I saw the cave a mile out. I hadn't seen a living being on that walk at all besides some Nocturnus in the distance. When I reached the cave however, Avon and Natalie weren't there but rather an old echidna woman in robes who was bleeding quite a lot.

"Who are you and where are my friends?" I asked her.

"I am the great Seer," she said softly, "Your friends are not here."

"That didn't answer my question," I said.

"Newton the Echidna…" I flinched at those words.

"I cannot talk long Newton as I am severely wounded," she said, "As I said, I am the great Seer. I can tell you that all four of your friends, including the one that didn't act like one, are alive."

"That's impossible," said Newton, "Tikal's dead, Avon and Natalie are missing, and Victor betrayed us."

"Tikal's spirit resides within the Master Emerald now," said the Seer, "As for Victor, he will, along with his clan, take over the planet but they will be banished to what is known as the Twilight Cage." I shuddered at those words. They were only spoken of in Nutrolis legends and were used to describe a place where evil civilizations resided for all eternity.

"Avon and Natalie on the other hand…" The room spun around and changed to an icy place.

"This is a vision of where the two of them are," she said. I saw a frozen statue of ice in the center of the room. Within it were Avon and Natalie, locked in mid kiss. Behind them, Avon's rod lied on a shrine.

"They're… frozen solid," I said in disbelief.

"Yes," said the Seer, "But very much alive. Avon cast a spell over them so that they would be frozen in time until the right spell was said."

"So can you give me the spell and tell me where they are?" I asked.

"I can tell you where they are," said the Seer, withdrawing the vision, "But I fear I cannot give you the spell. My power is limited. But as for where they are… that is Cyron Cave." I remained silent and the Seer twitched.

"My end is near," said the Seer, "I can at least grant you two things that will help you with what you must do now."

"What are they?" I asked.

"First, I must curse you," she said. I was shocked at this remark but was too slow to react. The Seer raised her hand over me and I felt a weird feeling go through my body.

"What was that?" I asked after the feeling was gone.

"You have received the curse of immortality," said the Seer, "It will only be broken after you complete your quest."

"What is this quest?" I asked.

"You must travel through time," said the Seer, "And recover what has been lost." I nearly jumped out of my skin at that.

"But why me?" I asked.

"I'm almost dead and there's no one else on this planet that has as much courage as you do," said the Seer. She leaned forward a bit.

"And you may be the last echidna that lives on in this world after I am gone," she whispered, "As the Nocturnus will vanish in a few short months and your three friends are frozen in time." I shuddered. She held out her hand again and another feeling surged through me.

"That was the gift of time travel," said the Seer, "You may now travel through time at will."

"Why curse me and then gift me?" I asked, "Why not call them both gifts?"

"The balance would be disturbed if you only received," said the Seer, "That curse represents giving up something, or to be more specific, giving up ever leaving the body of a living creature to save the world which is necessary if you fail your mission. When you find a way to recover what has been lost, both powers will leave you." I said nothing but I felt a warm light behind me.

"Go now, enter the fourth dimension, and save this world from disaster," said the Seer, "Only you can avert the events that have occurred!" With that, she fell to the ground, lifeless and melted away. I was so shocked I almost didn't move at all, but I felt drawn to the portal as if I needed to go to it. And as it would happen I did. I entered the portal to the voids of time and into what would be my destiny.

Epilogue

I have lived thousands of years since that final day of the Chaos Events. I still have not found a way to avert those disasters but I believe I will soon. As the Seer had told me, the Nocturnus were sealed away just months after I entered the void into time. I have relived those journeys I had with my friends hundreds of times and each and every time, they ended with the same fate. And so I continue to travel on these roads of time in order to find that way to stop the events that killed me on the inside, that may have been prevented, that changed the world.


End file.
